RICHMOND, VA: 



AN OUTLINE OF ITS 



Attractions and Industries 




W. D. CHESTERMAir 



Prepared by Order of the Chamber of Commerce and pub- 
lished under the directioyi of its Committee on 
Information and Statistics. 



COVtMITXEE ; 



F. S. Myers, Chairman, J. H. Whitty, 

Thomas Christian, R. H. Whitlock, 

John B. Cary. 



RICHMOND: 

WM. ELLIS JONES, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER. 
1888. 



Fi34 

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 

OF THE 

Richmond Chamber of Commerce, 

1888-'9. 



OFFICERS. 
President, - - . . - George A. Ainslie. 

First Vice-President, - - - Richard A. Dunlop. 

Second Vice-President, - - - George L. Christian. 

Secretary, . . - . \v. D. Chesterman. 

Treasurer, ----- John H. Montague. 

DIRECTORS. 
Henry Bodeker, S. H. Hawes, 

Robert S. Bosher, E. G. Leigh, Jr. 

C. P. E. Burgwyn, L. Levy, 

O. L. Cottrell, F. S. Myers, 

S. D. Crenshaw, Geo. D. Thaxton, 

John S. Ellett, W. H. Weisiger, 

F. T. Glasgow, R. H. Whitlock, 

R. F. Williams. 



The Board meets in the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce, 
Merchants National Bank Building, Main and Eleventh streets, on 
the second Thursday in each month at 6 P. M. 



By Transfer 
Gteologioal Survey 

MAR 16 1931 



Virginia's Capital and Largest City. 



Richmond will have an extraordinary attraction from October 
3d to November 21st of this year, 1888, in the Virginia Exposition, 
which will exhibit to the world the resources of the fields, forests 
and waters of the State, and the handiwork of her people in almost 
every department of useful human industry, while special promi- 
nence will be given to those objects of general interest which illus- 
trate the history of this the oldest of the American Commonwealths. 

Richmond is a favorite city with tourists. It has a charming 
climate and beautiful site. From high hills it looks down on the 
James river which, flowing from the mountains and Piedmont 
country, here comes upon many islands and rocky impediments 
causing it to divide into various streams, and break into falls and 
cascades, until it approaches the shipping in the harbor where it 
reunites and meets tidewater, and thence quietly and majestically 
winds its way through fertile fields and picturesque woodlands to 
the sea. 

It is a city abounding in landmarks of the Colonial, Revolutionary 
and Confederate struggles ; indeed, is richer in historical associations 
than any other city in this country — being the centre of a district 
where the shocks of the recent war were felt more frequently and 
severely than in any other part of the land, and around which are 
still to be seen many of the breastworks and rifle-pits whence the 
two armies, at times from 1862 to 1865, dealt to each other their 
missiles of death. 

It is particularly interesting as the capital of the " Old Dominion," 
and as having been the capital of the Confederate States; and its 
streets, parks and suburbs are crowded with buildings and localities 
connected with stirring events of which every school-boy, even, has 
heard or read. 

It is a city, too, keeping well abreast of the activity and progress 
of the age. It owns its water works and gas works and is develop- 
ing both to meet the demands of the growing population. No city 



4 Richmond, Va : its 

has a superior sewerage and drainage system. The streets are well 
paved and every rain washes the dust and dirt from them down 
into the river. It has a moderate debt, and ample assets to give the 
highest credit. It possesses a street-car system that is good and is 
rapidly improving and enlarging. It is sometimes called "the 
Electric City " by reason of the fact that electricity is here employed 
for so many purposes— for propelling street-cars ; for furnishing 
motive power to manufactories; for unloading ships; for street and 
house lighting, etc., and it is the place of the first experiments in 
and the first invention of electric-heating apparatuses. 

It is a distributing point for provisions, dry goods, clothing, 
notions, medicines, hardware, agricultural machinery, etc., and 
most of the Southern and many of the Western States are among 
our patrons. 

It is a city plenteously supplied with water-power, and rich in 
facilities by river and rail for receiving raw material and sending 
out manufactured products. Its goods, tobacco particularly, go to 
every State in the Union and to almost all the lands of the earth. 
It has a location enabling it to do business advantageously with the 
people of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, and with the markets of New- 
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, Charleston, Atlanta, 
Cincinnati, Chicago, etc. In fact, with its lines of steamers and 
numerous railroads, connected with great systems, its business men 
can receive and ship freight, in unbroken bulk, from or to any por- 
tion of this continent. 

In the five years just past, Riv^hmond has made astonishing strides 
in population ; in manufactures; in the jobbing trade; in general 
commerce and business of every description; but in nothing has 
her progress been more strikingly exemplified than in the great 
number of elegant residences built. 

Much capital has been brought here from other States. Agricul- 
tural, coal and iron lands in this section are being bought by settlers 
from the North and West, who find in this genial and reliable cli 
mate homes free alike from the rigors of northern and western 
winters and from the enervating summers and malarious influences 
of some southern localities. 



Attractions and Industries. 5 

Richmond is one hundred and sixteen miles south of Washington 
by the nearest railroad route, and is one hundred and twenty-seven 
miles from the Atlantic Ocean following the meanders of the river's 
channel. Vessels drawing sixteen feet of water come to our 
wharves, and Congress is pledged to a plan of improvement which 
will give us, at high tide, twenty-five feet to the sea. The value of 
the James river as a national highway ; the importance to the States 
south and west of us of the work of improvement the United States 
Government is doing (and for which it has this year appropriated 
1225,000), is the subject of a valuable pamphlet by Colonel Frank G. 
Rufifin, published by the Chamber of Commerce. 

That Richmond is a healthy place never has been questioned. 
Yellow fever has never made a lodgment here. Patients have come 
here from mfected communities, but the disease took no root in 
our well-drained and high hilled city. 

The climate is dry and invigorating. Freezing weather but sel- 
dom comes and rarely lasts longer than three or four days at a time. 
The mean temperature for the past July was only 75° ; but of all 
seasons of the year in Virginia, October, November and December 
are the most truly delightful. 

Below are historical and industrial details believed to be of inter- 
est to those who may visit the Virginia Exposition, or who take 
interest in the affairs of Richmond and Virginia: 

OBJECTS OF INTEREST. 

The battlefields of Drewry's Bluff (Fort Darling), Seven Pines 
(Fair Oaks), Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mill, Frazer's Farm, Savage's 
Station, Malvern Hill, Cold Harbor, Fort Harrison, and Yellow 
Tavern, are within from five to fifteen miles of the corporate limits, 
and most of them are of easy access. 

Among the objects of interest to travellers generally are the 
following: The State Capitol, the foundations of which were laid in 
1785. Here the Confederate Congress held its sessions, and in the 
building is a great collection of objects pertaining to American 
wars; also, many portraits of historical personages, books, MSS., 
and Houdon's celebrated statue of Washington, made from casts 
taken from the person of the Father of his Country. Near by the 



6 Richmond, Va : its 

Capitol is the Washington Monument— upon which is the most 
magnificent bronze statuary in America — and close by it is the 
statue of Stonewall Jackson, presented to Virginia by the English 
admirers of the great soldier. 

Close around the Capitol Square are a number of places of in- 
terest which were identified with the Confederate Government — 
viz: The Post-Ofiice Department; the office of Hon. Jefferson 
Davis and of his Cabinet; the house in which Mr Davis and family 
resided ; the church in which he worshipped, and where he was 
seated when notified that Lee was about to evacuate Petersburg, 
and that Richmond, too, must fall ; the Treasury Department, &c. ; 
the residence occupied by the family of General Lee during the 
war, and where he rejoined them after the surrender at Appo- 
mattox. Further off are Libby Prison and Belle Isle. 

"The Old Stone House," euphemistically called by the hack- 
drivers, "Washington's Headquarters," dates back to 1737, and has 
interesting history and traditions associated with it. 

St. John's church, in which Patrick Henry made his celebrated 
speech ''Give me liberty or give vie death,''' is another of Rich- 
mond's venerable attractions, as also is the Monumental cnurch, 
which marks the spot where in 181 r the theatre was destroyed by 
fire, when the Governor of the State and sixty-three others lost 
their lives. 

Hollywood is one of the most picturesque cemeteries in America. 
It is undulating ground, and is filled with oaks and hollies of origi- 
nal growth. In the early summer it is also fragrant with magnolias and 
roses. Here an immense granite pyramid stands in memory of 
12,000 Confederates buried around it, and here are the graves of 
Presidents Monroe and Tyler, of John Randolph of Roanoke, of 
Henry A. Wise (Congressman, Governor, and General), and of 
Generals A. P. Hill, J. E. B. Stuart, George E. Pickett, William ' 
Smith (who was twice Governor and several times a Congressman), 
Commodore Maury, and others. The view from the cemetery is of 
the falls, of Belle Isle, the Tredegar Works, the islands of the James, 
and the pretty farming lands of Chesterfield. 

The Confederate Soldiers Home, on grounds adjoining the spa- 
cious Reservoir Park, is a place visited by all strangers. 

1 



Attractions and Industries. 7 

At the other end of the city is Oakwood, a cemetery where 
16,000 Confederate soldiers are buried. This, too, is in the midst of 
picturesque scenery. 

One of the most beautiful features of Richmond is its numerous 
parks. They are all on high hills and charming views spread out 
before them. All are reached by street cars. 

The Penitentiary (State's Prison) is one of the oldest institutions 
of the kind in the land. Here Aaron Burr was confined while on 
trial for treason. 

The studio of Valentine contains models of nearly all the works 
of this great sculptor. 

Richmond College has an attractive museum, a large library and 
imposing buildings set in spacious grounds. 

The Virginia Medical College building is unique in design and 
commanding in appearance. 

It is hoped that the United States Iron-clad fleet, now at City 
Point, will be ordered to Richmond harbor during the Exposition. 

April 3d, 1865, upon the evacuation of the city, the Confederates 
kindled a fire to destroy the tobacco in the public warehouses, and 
the flames, spreading therefrom with great rapidity, destroyed one- 
half of the business portion of the city and many other costly struc- 
tures. Nearly all traces of this, the most disastrous event in the 
city's history, have long ago been obliterated by the erection of 
new and statelier houses. 

EVIDENCES OF ENTERPRISE. 

Largely with Richmond capital the Danville Railroad system has 
been extended from Clarksville to Oxford, N. C. (24 miles), and is 
now being finished from Oxford to Durham (32 miles), giving Rich- 
mond what nearly amounts to a third railroad into North Carolina. 

The Farmville & Powhatan Railroad, now being rapidly con- 
structed, will strike the Danville road, and give Richmond a shorter 
route to Farmville and open up to this city a fine timber and agri- 
cultural country. 

A tunnel is now being built under Eighth street of this city at a 
cost of 1750,000. When completed it can be used by the Fredericks- 
burg road (instead of its present route) and the Chesapeake and 



8 Richmond, Va : its 

Ohio road to reach the Union depot (Byrd street station, Atlantic 
Coast Line), built two years ago at a cost exceeding $200,000. 

The tunnel, however, is a part of the line of the Richmond and 
Chesapeake Railroad Company, which corporation means to build 
a line from this city to Wicomico, on the Chesapeake Bay, where 
by boats it can connect with extensive Northern systems. 

A City Hall is now being erected of the beautiful James river 
granite. The appropriations already made for it amount to $640,- 
000. The new building stands on the site of the old hall. The 
United States Government is bringing to completion the enlarge- 
ment of the custom-house and post-office, for which nearly |20o,ooo 
was appropriated. The Masons have begun the erection of a tem- 
ple to cost |ioo,ooo. A retail store is now being erected here which 
will be the largest south of Philadelphia. Very few vacant business 
houses are to be found in Richmond ; none, indeed it may be said, if 
we exclude from the list a few that have not been remodelled to suit 
the demands of the times. 

The corner-stone of a monument to Lee was laid last fall, and 
the work (which up to this time has been delayed to await the draw- 
ings from Merci^, the French sculptor,) is now about to be pushed 
forward with great vigor. The monument will be located in an ad- 
dition to the city to be known as Lee Circle. It is a fine piece of 
high ground, nearly opposite the Exposition Hall. 

A movement that has a successful start is being made to erect in 
Marshall Park (Libby Hill) a monument to the private soldiers of 
the South. This will be a column crowning one of the most con- 
spicuous eminences of the city, and it will be in plain view, not only 
of the business centres, but of the river and railroads, and within 
sight of some of the battlefields. 

The National Government has just completed a fine macada- 
mized road, connecting Chimborazo Park (site of the great Con- 
federate hospital) with the nearest Federal soldiers' cemetery. 

Two large paper mills began operations last year. A great 
wheel and hub-factory is one of our new industries. Four acres of 
ground opposite the Exposition grounds have just been bought for 
a basket factory site. Several of the iron works and other manufac- 
tories are enlarging their plants. 



Attractions and Indtistries. 9 

POPULATION. 

Richmond and Manchester are separated by the James river, and 
are connected by five bridges, and their present population, as ac- 
curately ascertained upon the basis of the assessments for poll-tax, 
is as follows : 

Richmond 83,037 

Manchester 7.865 

Suburbs 8,000 

Total 98,902 

A plan now on foot for the extension of our corporate limits, will, 
if adopted, increase our population several thousand. 

VALUE OF PROPERTY — TAXATION. 

The value of real property here is $33,970,131 ; personal pro- 
perty, ^14,360,952— total, 148,331,083. The last general assessment 
of real estate was made in 1885, and the next one will be made in 
1890, when our taxable property will be run up many millions. 
Property here, owned by the city, State, and Federal Government, 
by churches and benevolent organizations, not taxed, may be esti- 
mated at from |6,ooo,ooo to |7,ooo,ooo. 

The State levy is 40 cents on the |ioo value ; the city tax, I1.40. 

Manchester has about $3,000,000 of taxables. 

RICHMOND BANKS. 

The aggregated capital and surplus of the Richmond banks is 
nearly $4,000,000, and the following half yearly statement, compiled 
by Mr. J. H. Whitty, Bradstreet's Richmond agent, in comparison 
with a like period for 1887, shows the clearings: 

1887. 1888. 

$38,299,462.08 $42,108,372.35. 

Increase, $3,808,910.27. 

This is more significant when the fact is taken into consideration 
that the clearings of most of the other large cities show a decrease 
for this same period of 1888. 



10 Richmond, Va : its 

THE BUILDING INTEREST, ETC. 

The number of new houses erected in Richmond in 1887 was 557, 
in Manchester 60 or 70 more. By the close of this year we will be 
able to make even a better showing. 

The churches and places of worship number 67, and the de- 
nominations represented are: Baptist, Methodist, Christian, Catho- 
lic, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Jewish, Lutheran (English and Ger- 
man), Friends, etc. 

A recent table, prepared to show the percentage of crime in the 
principal cities of the country, puts Richmond in the place of honor 
as a well-ordered community. 

The principal streets and many houses are lighted by electricity. 

THE WATER-POWER. 

Within five miles of Richmond the James river begins a very 
rapid descent, and falls altogether 116 feet, which, with the canals 
paralleling the stream, affords an immense water-power. 

With the full development and utilization of this great and cheap 
power, Richmond will take a mighty stride in advance of her pre- 
sent position as a manufacturing city. 

The Chamber of Commerce will furnish detailed information on 
the subject. 

COMMERCIAL BODIES. 

The commercial organizations of Richmond are as follows : The 
Tobacco Trade, which has a large and handsome Exchange, where 
there are daily sales of the finest tobaccos produced in this coun- 
try ; the Grain, Cotton and Flour Exchange, with a commodious 
building and daily sales of all articles on their list; the Commercial 
Club, which maintains a conveniently-arranged club-house for the 
use of its members, who are chiefly business men, and the Chamber 
of Commerce, which has elegant rooms and a large membership. 

STREETS. 

The chief business streets of the city are paved with Belgian 
block or spalls, both from the superb granite beds of this vicinity. 
The best residential portion has macadamized streets; but every- 
where in Richmond the thoroughfares have good roadways, and 



Attractions and Industries. 11 

smooth, well-paved sidewalks. The streets are from 65 to 120 feet 
in width, and usually intersect at right angles. In the section occu- 
pied by private residences, the sidewalks are shaded by beautiful 
trees of maple, elm, linden, etc., giving the appearance of a con- 
tinuous park. Richmond is one of the best drained cities in the 
world. Every shower washes the streets clean and nice, while the 
system of culvertage, which has been in operation many years, 
carries off with great rapidity all the sewage, and empties it into 
suitable places in the river, whence it finally reaches the sea. 

HEALTH. 

Richmond is one of the cleanest cities in the land, and hygienically 
considered is greatly favored by nature. Yellow-fever has no homfe 
here, and our history shows a remarkable exemption from ravaging 
epidemics of all kinds ; so much so, that Richmond is known far 
and wide as a healthy place. It is a locality where the severity of 
winter is rarely such as to hinder business operations, and where 
the heat of summer is scarcely ever great enough to deter an active 
man from the industrious pursuit of his calling. The climate is dry 
and invigorating, and the yearly average of bright, pleasant days is 
very large. We are about ninety miles equidistant from the Blue 
Ridge Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, and, having the advan- 
tage of considerable elevation, get the breezes that break the se- 
verity of summer's heat and, at the same time, are near enough to 
the Gulf stream to feel its influences in moderating the keenness of 
winter's cold. 

EXHIBIT OF MORTALITY IN COMPARISON WITH SEVERAL OTHER 

CITIES. 
[Rate per i,ooo per annum.] 

New York, N. Y 26.27 Providence, R. 1 21.48 

Brooklyn, N. Y 22.72 Patterson, N. J 21.81 

Baltimore, Md 19.16 Fall River, Mass 21.90 

St. Louis, Mo 21.8 Memphis, Tenn 23.56 

Boston, Mass 25.18 Wilmington, Del 19 • 10 

Buffalo, N. Y 20.38 Mobile, Ala 28.00 

Washington, D. C 22.21 Richmond 20.25 

Newark, N. J 23.80 



12 Richmond, Va : its 

STREET CARS. 

The street railways of Richmond and Manchester have a mileage 
of routes of i8f, most of which is laid with double track, and 6K 
miles of which is operated by electricity (Edison-Sprague " over- 
head wire'') and carrying from 50,000 to 60,000 passengers per 
week. This is the longest electrical street railway in the world, 
and the most successful, inasmuch as it climbs steep hills, turns 
sharp curves and threads crowded streets with a rapidity of move- 
ment, an ease in management and an economy in expenses hereto- 
fore unknown. Our entire street car system is to be run by electricity 
by the ist of October — horses and mules will be utterly discarded. 
In addition to these improvements, all the lines will extend their 
tracks to the Exposition Grounds (one-half mile beyond the western 
corporate limits), and franchises have been granted a new com- 
pany, which is running a line from Manchester, through several of 
the principal streets to the Exposition Grounds — a distance of 
some five or six miles. All this done, we will have street car routes 
twenty-five miles in length, most of them laid with double track. 

A company has also been organized, and will proceed to build an 
electrical railway from the city to the battlefield of Seven Pines 
(Fair Oaks), a distance of eight miles. 

In the utilization of electricity for street railways, Richmond leads 
the world, and she is up with nearly any other city in using it for 
motive power in manufactories, etc., and for lights in buildings and 
on streets. 

Electrical exhibits and displays will be a prominent feature of 
the Exposition. 

RICHMOND'S JOBBING TRADE. 

The following statistics are compiled from figures and opinions 
obtained by Mr. J. H. Whitty, Bradstreet's Richmond agent, after 
an extensive inquiry among the jobbing houses of the city. They 
are instructive and show the character, growth, and enormous in- 
crease in the volume of business. 

In 1885 the sales amounted to |i7,ooo,ooo; in 1886, $22,000,000; 
in 1887, 125,290,000— an increase over 1886, of 13,290,000— a most 
gratifying exhibit, and yet 1888 will overshoot it by several millions. 



Attractions and Industries. 



13 



Capital in Annual 

Class, Article, or Kind. Business. Sales. 

Groceries and liquors fi,50o,ooo $9>535.ooo 

Meatand lard 375.ooo 3.500,000 

Dry goods 820,000 2,250,000 

Fancy groceries and tobacco 325.000 1,850,000 

Boots and shoes 495.ooo 1,530,000 

Hardware 250,000 950,000 

Drugs 330,000 750,000 

Hides, leather, &c 225,000 550,000 

Notions and millinery 165,000 475,ooo 

Railroad and plumbers' supplies 150,000 465.000 

Clothing 100,000 375,000 

Stationerj', &c 125,000 360,000 

Sewing-Machines 210,000 350.000 

Oils and paints 100,000 3251O00 

Licorice 100,000 320,000 

Furniture 165,000 300,000 

Hats and caps 150,000 285,000 

Earthenware and china 90,000 265,000 

Stoves and tinware 110,000 225,000 

Pianos, organs, &c 140,000 220,000 

Carpets and upholstery 85,000 175,000 

Woodenware 65,000 135,000 

Rubber supplies 40,000. 100,000 

Total $5,115,000 $25,290,000 

Besides the figures shown in the jobbing statistics, there are 
shippers of hay, dealers in mill-feed, ice, coal and other branches 
that would add materially to sales exclusive of manufactures. The 
sales in wheat, hay, &c., alone amounted to some |5,ooo,ooo ; coal 
and ice, |i, 250,000, and cattle, |8,9oo,ooo. With these and retail 
sales in various lines 141,000,000 would be considered a conserva- 
tive estimate of sales last year outside of manufacturers. 

The Coal Elevator here is a great aid to the city trade and of 
much advantage in shipping. 

MANUFACTURES. 

The figures following show the great importance of Richmond 
as a manufacturing centre : 

Number of establishments .-- 690 

Number of hands 19,980 

Capital in business $12,360,546 

Annual sales $27,887,340 



14 



Richmond, Va : its 



The kinds of manufactories are as follows : 

Furniture, mattresses, &c. 

Granite-works. 

Ground glue. 

Gunsmiths and sporting supplies. 

Hair-workers. 



Agricultural implements, machinery, &c. 

Ale, beer and mineral waters. 

Bags and cotton-bagging. 

Bakers. 

Bark and sumac. 

Barrels and hogsheads. 

Blacksmiths and wheelwrights. 

Blank books, paper-boxes, and paper- 
bags. 

Blueing-factory. 

Boots, shoes, leather, and leather goods. 

Boxes -Cigar, tobacco and packing, 
wooden and paper. 

Brand, stencil and stamp cutters. 

Bricks. 

Brooms, wood and willow ware. 

Candy and confections. 

Carriages, wagons, carts, &c. 

Carpenters and builders. 

Cigars and cigarettes. 

Coffee, spice and flavoring mills. 

Clothing and merchant tailors. 

Cotton factories. 

Cotton-mill supplies. 

Drugs, medicines, meat-juice and bit- 
ters. 

Dyeing and bleaching. 

Earthen and stoneware. 

Engraving and lithographing. 

Fertilizers. 

Flour and corn-meal. 

IRON WORKS. 



Ice-factory. 

Iron and nail-works, machine-works, 
foundries, stove-works, architectural 
iron-works, tobacco-fixtures, &c. 

Lubricators, oil and grease. 

Marble and stone-works. 

Matches. 

Mica. 

Newspapers and job-printers. 

Paper-mills. 

Picture-frames and ornamental wood- 
work. 

Pork-packing. 

Saddles, harness and horse-collars. 

Sash, blinds, doors, &c. 

Slate-works. 

Soap. 

Sulphuric acid and sulphate of ammonia. 

Tanners. 

Tinware, gas-fittings and plumbing. 

Tobacco — Chewing and smoKing. 

Tobacco — Stemmeries and reprizers. 

Trunks and valises. 

Underwear — Ladies and gentlemen. 

Wheel-hubs, spokes and plow-handles. 



Iron is as much an essential of the prosperity of the city as it is 
an indispensable element of the healthy human system, and the 
manufactories of it here are of great and growing importance. In- 
dependent of mere blacksmith shops, we have twenty-three iron- 
working establishments, employing 3,800 hands, operating upon a 
capital of 12,225,000, and having an annual output of $4,500,000. 
The chief articles of manufacture are bar iron, nails, horse-shoes, 
spikes, bolts, fish plates, car- wheels, car-axles, and other forgings, 
locomotives, freight-cars, street cars, steam-engines of great variety, 



Attractions and Industries. 15 

stoves, iron and brass castings, water and gas pipes, agricultural and 
other machinery, and architectural work, and plants are being 
equipped for doing naval work. 

Many of these factories are operated by water-power, but other 
very large establishments use steam. 

Coal and iron are to a great extent supplied by the Virginia 
mines, some of which are quite near the city. 

The advantages of Richmond as a distributing point— the ease 
with which a car can be loaded in a manufactory and switched off 
upon railroad tracks reaching all parts of this continent — are among 
the many advantages the city possesses as a manufacturing centre. 



A well known writer here, who is recognized as high authority, 
kindly supplies the following: 

Tobacco was cultivated in Virginia in the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
and its use then and subsequently for a long time, connects it with a great part 
of the history of our State and people. It remains to-day our staple and, as it is 
called, " money crop." Its culture extended from the lower counties on the Atlantic 
westward, until it embraced a greater part of the State, varying in quality with diverse 
soils chiefly. To Virginia is due the credit of beginning exportations from this 
country by establishing tobacco as an article of commerce. In the early days of 
the colony large fleets were employed in transporting it to foreign countries, 
and it continues until to-day to constitute our chief trade. 

Many varieties have been produced from the original of Virginia, and its culture 
extends now from the State, and the knowledge of it to all countries. Only as cigar 
tobacco is the soil and climate of Virginia not adapted, though recent experiments 
prove that even the fine, silky, high-priced, modern Sumatra wrapper can be raised 
in some parts of Virginia successfully. In bright and fancy yellow leaf Virginia, 
like North Carolina, is without a rival, and the rapid and enormous growth of the 
cigarette-smoking habit is due to the mild and excellent quality of this comparatively 
new product. The earlier products were dark and heavy, and were for export almost 
exclusively. 

The milder types are now in demand, yet Virginia still produces to perfection a 
greater variety of tobacco than any country of the world, and the fame of Virginia 
tobacco extends the earth over, whether in plug, cigarette, smoking or shipping, 
and the superiority of her manufactures is everywhere acknowledged. The cultiva- 
tion extending to other States has not diminished the production or fame of our own 
State, though through over two hundred years' home experience, excellent and 
skilled men have carried the art of making and manufacturing to many other States. 
Virginia and especially the district of Richmond and Petersburg export more plug 
than all the rest of the United States, or nine-tenths of the plug exported ; with 



16 Richmond, Va : its 

cigarette she holds first rank in manufacture, and in the past few years has made the 
most rapid strides also in cigar and cheroot making, and is extending this branch 
continuously and successfully. Necessarily the manufacture of machinery adapted 
to the manufacture of tobacco is also a leading industry of this city, and from the 
curing of the leaf to the perfected out-put of the factory, progress is being steadily 
made. Tobacco producing experience, for two hundred years past, has brought 
the product in all lines to perfection, while Richmond has always been the centre 
of trade for this State, and North Carolina and West Virginia. Richmond keeps, 
however, abreast of the times in all tobacco products, and with the introduction of 
the new variety of Burley leaf in the West numerous factories are now devoting their 
attention successfully to that class here. The climate and soil conditions are all 
favorable and, in this State, we are out of the storm belt. Tobacco is cured by everj' 
known mode in every variety, for all nations of the earth, and gives, from first to 
last, profitable employment to a vast and varied class of people. 

The war tax revenue derived from the Virginia product is astonishingly enormous. 
The largest stocks of leaf and manufactured are concentrated in Richmond factories 
and store houses the year round. Strips, leaf, stems, plug, fine cut cigarettes, ex- 
port plug and twist in every variety are staple with our people. Profits vary, but 
tobacco has always been profitable, though in late years a greater variety of other 
agricultural products has greatly enriched our State and soils. Prices vary materially 
and in diflferent years, and may be put down at from one cent to one dollar per pound. 

W. E. D. 
FLOUR AND GRAIN. 

Richmond has several of the largest and best equipped flonring 
mills in the country — all operated by water-power— and their brands 
have a great celebrity in home and foreign markets. They have 
long manufactured for the South American cities, and there, as well 
as in domestic markets, their flour commands high figures. Roller 
machinery and burr-stones are both used. The flour, meal, bran, 
etc., sold bring to Richmond a great deal of money and gives to 
this industry high rank. 

The elevator facilities are good and the city is fast becoming a 
grain distributing centre. 

The Grain and Cotton Exchange statistics for this year show that 
in wheat, corn, oats, etc., flour and cotton, Richmond is growing in 
importance as a market having unusually good facilities for receipts 
and shipments by rail and water. 

OTHER MANUFACTURES. 

The following briefly alludes to a number of other important 
Richmond manufactures : 



Attractions and Industries. 17 

Most of the cedar-ware (buckets, etc.) seen in the markets of the country- is made 
here. Commercial fertilizers by the train load leave Richmond manufactories every 
season to supply the demands of agriculturists in this and other States. Ground 
glue is a Richmond specialty that has a market in almost all of the Stales. Furni- 
ture, mattresses, etc., of high grade and elegant design, are made by several factories 
in this city. Sash, doors and blinds are turned out in large quantities and of superior 
workmanship. The manufacture of various sorts of paper and blank books and book- 
binding, lithographing, wood engraving, book publishing, and general printing are 
prominent in our industries. 

Tanning of leather and the manipulation of it into horse collars, other harness, sad- 
dles, etc., give employment to many hands. Thousands of women find employment 
in making gents' clothing and underwear. Paper boxes, from a pill-box up to the 
largest sizes for packing, are made in the greatest quantities ; here, too, white 
female labor is employed in great numbers. The Cotton Mill (at Manchester) is a 
long established and prosperous institution. 

The celebrated Virginia slate is mined and manufactured a short distance from 
Richmond and is distributed to the world from this point. The Meat Juice Works 
"here are one of our most novel and prosperous enterprises. Life in many States is 
sweetened by the candies and confections made in this city. Scores of newspapers 
throughout the country are printed on Richmond made type. To cure the ills that 
flesh is heir to, we make and send out, annually, a great many drugs and medicines. 
.\x\ ice-factory is among our enterprises, and scores of vessels bring cargoes of New 
England ice to our wharves, much of which is sold in the South. Bags for all com- 
mercial purposes are made here in amazing numbers and of excellent quality. 
Sumac, gathered by our roadsides, is ground up at several Richmond and Manchester 
Sumac Mills. Carriages and wagons of very superior structure are made here in 
large numbers. The tobacco box factories supply our own trade and their products 
are largely shipped to other cities. Our Granite Works send the best known paving 
blocks and building stones to many sections of the country. Trunks and valises are 
largely manufactured here. 

Richmond is remarkable for the number of white girls who find pleasant and 
profitable employment in the factories. 

TRANSPORTATION LINES. 

The railroads centering at Richmond are the Chesapeake and 
Ohio with its extension to Newport News and Old Point, stretching 
from the Chesapeake bay to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and 
connecting with the railway systems of the great West. The road it 
is now building along the Ohio river will shorten the distance 
from Richmond to Cincinnati 60 miles. The Richmond, Frede- 
ricksburg and Potomac railroad, with its connections, gives quick 
access to Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York 
and all points North, East and West. The Richmond and Pe- 
2 



18 Richmond, Va : its 

tersburg Railroad is the initial link in the Great Atlantic Coast 
Line system which, traversing Petersburg, Weldon, Goldsboro, 
Wilmington and Florence, extends to Columbia, S. C, on the West 
and to Savannah and Jacksonville on the Southeast. The Rich- 
mond and Danville system, starting at Richmond, passes through 
some of the most fruitful and productive sections of Virginia, and 
penetrates the most attractive portions of the Carolinas and Georgia, 
embracing in its control thousands of* miles of railway with all the 
dependent lines of natural roadways and water courses, etc., essen- 
tial to such a system The Richmond and Alleghany Railroad is 
built upon the banks of the James river, mostly upon the tow- 
path of the canal, from Richmond to its head-waters in the Alle- 
ghany mountains. It passes through Lynchburg and connects 
with the Chesapeake and Ohio at Clifton Forge, and is now about 
to become a part of the Chesapeake & Ohio system. The Richmond, 
York River and Chesapeake Railroad (a part of the Danville sys- 
tem) runs from Richmond to West Point. 

The elegant steamships of the Old Dominion Steamship Com- 
pany run regularly between Richmond and New York, stopping at 
City Point (Grant's headquarters during the siege of Petersburg) 
and Norfolk and Portsmouth. The Philadelphia line runs between 
Richmond and the Quaker City. The Virginia Steamboat Com- 
pany's river steamers connect Richmond with all James river land- 
ings, and Old Point, Norfolk and Portsmouth. 

Many sailing vessels regularly trade with this port. 

The port of West Point, on the York river, is connected with 
Richmond by rail (38 miles), and from that place there are regular 
lines of steamers for Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia 
and Baltimore. 

From Richmond, Newport News and West Point there is con- 
siderable shipping to foreign countries, the cargoes being flour, 
grain, tobacco and lumber of our' products, and cotton brought 
from States South, and oil from States West and North of us. 

SCHOOL ADVANTAGES. 

The annual report recently submitted to the City School Board 
states that the enrolment of pupils in the Richmond public schools 



Attractio7is and Industries. 19 

the past session was 10,867 ; that in the final examinations the re- 
sult was 85. 4 (out of a possible 100) in the white schools, and 83.3 
in the colored schools— average 84. 3. The percentage thus ob- 
tained was higher than that of any previous session, and the per- 
centage of attendance during the session "the largest ever heard 
of in any city of the United States"— [a good proof of the health 
of the city.] The cost of maintenance of these schools, including 
the High School, was 1110,478.06. Of this sum the City Council 
appropriated $80,362.22, and the State of Virginia $28,876.43, and 
the small remainder came from other sources. 

There are about 3,000 students in the colleges, seminaries, insti- 
tutes and private schools not embraced above. Educational ad- 
vantages here are complete and within the range of all. 

OTHER FACTS. 

. The street car fare is five cents. 

The rise of the tide at our wharves is three and a half feet. 

Rainfall h>Te averages 38 inches per annum. 

Price of city gas to consumers is %\ .50 per thousand cubic feet. 

Number of churches here 67; membership, 33,000. 

The most elevated point in the city is 209 feet above tide. 

There are three theatres in regular operation during the season 
and numerous other halls are open from time to time for concert 
and other public entertainments. In the Exposition building there 
will be a very spacious Concert Hall. 

BUILDING M.\TERIAL. 

Richmond is highly favored by Nature with building material. 
The hills on the river to the west of her are of granite foundation, 
a beautifully colored, ever-enduring stone, which was selected on 
account of its excellence in these respects for the State and Navy 
Department buildings at Washington. It is also of high value as a 
paving stone. Belgian blocks cut from it have been used for paving 
in many of the large cities of the country. Richmond bricks are 
unsurpassed. They are red and hard, make a pretty house without 
the use of paint or any other coloring material, and will last forever 
almost. Slate of the finest quality is very convenient to the city. 



20 Richmond, Va : its 

Lumber is brought here by wagon and rail from the surrounding 
counties ; also by the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad from West 
Virginia, by the Petersburg and Danville railroads from North Car 
olina, and from the Dismal Swamp region of Virginia, and by vessels 
from tidewater Virginia and North Carolina and from the Eastern 
States. 

Richmond workshops supply most of the sash, blinds and doors, 
nails and architectural iron used. 

MANCHESTER. 

This city is on the south bank of the James, opposite Richmond, 
and has, with its suburbs, a population of 10,000, and is connected 
with us by five bridges, two of which are for carriages, wagons and 
pedestrians ; the other three for railroad trains, but are also to some 
extent used for foot-passengers. 

The people are largely engaged in manufactures, and have ex- 
tensive cotton, flour, sumac, tobacco, and other mills and facto- 
ries ; also exceedingly large railroad shops, tanyards, and very 
prosperous and numerous manufactories of brick. A line of horse- 
cars (soon to be made an electric railway), crossing the free-bridge, 
gives speedy communication between the two cities, and surveys 
have been made for another street railway shortly to be built. 

The fact is, that Richmond and Manchester are practically one 
community and at no distant day will probably be united under 
one municipal government. 

Manchester in many ways contributes much to the prosperity of 
Richmond, and the products of her industries go to swell the 
amount of manufactures with which we are credited. Her business 
houses are lighted by electricity, and fine new water-works are 
being built. It is a city of good government, good schools, and 
pleasant homes, and every one who comes to Richmond is expected 
to visit it. 

PETERSBURG. 

The communication between Richmond and Petersburg (21 miles 
apart) is so easy and rapid that few tourists come to one city with- 
out also going to the other. 



Attractions and Industries. 21 

The battlefields around Petersburg are on its immediate suburbs 
and are of exceedingly easy access. That known as the " Crater," 
has been visited by thousands of people from all parts of the world, 
and possesses an unfading interest, for it was the scene of one of 
the most remarkable conflicts of modern warfare— the explosion of 
the " Mine," which was attended by such disastrous results for the 
Federal army. 

Petersburg has a population of 25,000 or 30,000; is largely engaged 
in the tobacco trade, in all of its varied branches, and has numerous 
thrifty and prospering industries, while its people are noted for 
their intelligence and hospitality. 

FROM RICHMOND TO NORFOLK. 

James river has been famous in history ever since 1607, when 
Captain John Smith and his company of explorers sailed within 
the Virginia Capes. 

In a trip from Richmond to Norfolk the traveller passes Powha- 
tan, one of the seats of the Indian chief of that name and father of 
Pocahontas; Drewry's Bluff (or Fort Darling), the locality of the 
first attack on Richmond in 1862 ; Dutch Gap, where Ben Butler 
began a cut through the land to pass up his gunboats, which has 
since been enlarged and made a ship canal, reducing the distance 
from Richmond to the sea five and one-half miles; Varina, which 
was neutral ground for the exchange of prisoners during the late 
war; Bermuda Hundred, where, in the expressive language of Gen- 
era! Grant, the Confederates "bottled up" Ben Butler's army; 
City Point, which was the headquarters of General Grant during 
the siege of Petersburg and Richmond ; Berkley, where General 
McClellan had his headquarters after the Seven-Days' battles ; 
Westover, one of the finest specimens of a colonial house in exist- 
ence, where Lord Cornwallis's army crossed the river going to 
Yorktown ; Jamestown, the oldest English settlement in America 
and first capital of Virginia ; Newport News, now the deep-water 
terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio railway, near which, in 1862, 
took place the great naval battle between the Virginia (or Merrimac) 
and the monitor, and other vessels on each side, which revolution- 
ized naval architecture the world over; Hampton, a historic and 



22 Richmond, Va : its 

beautiful town ; and Fortress Monroe, the largest and best known 
fort in the United States. 

The thriving cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth are in short dis- 
tances of Fortress Monroe, and will well repay the visitor, so 
crowded are they with rich historical associations, and so busy 
with trade and commerce. 

One of the best of the United State? navy-yards is at Portsmouth. 

VIRGINIA AGRICULTURAL, MECHANICAL AND TOBACCO EXPOSITION. 

The Exposition organization is the legal and actual successor of the 
Virginia Agricultural Society. Its grounds (Camp Lee) are historic ; 
for all during the war (i86i-'65) they were used by the Confederate 
troops as a camp of rendezvous, where soldiers were formed into 
companies, battalions, and regiments, and then marched to the front. 
They are situated on high ground, less than half a mile west of the 
city limits, and between the Broad-Street and Hermitage roads, 
and cover sixty-seven acres, which for many years past have been 
used and known as the Fair-Grounds. All the street railways of 
the city will run their cars to the doors of the Exposition Hall, 
and the tracks of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac 
Railroad Company extend not only into the grounds, but into the 
main hall itself, and in the city connect with the entire railroad 
system of the United States and Canada. 

The proposed exhibition will commence on the 3d of October, 
1888, and will continue seven weeks. The citizens of Richmond have 
subscribed a large sum of money, with which the Society has erected 
a main exposition building and an art hall. They have also re- 
modelled the race-track and rearranged all the buildings on the 
grounds, so as to harmonize with a general plan, which contem- 
plates the most interesting exhibition ever held in the South. 

The Exposition is designed to show to the world the products of 
our fields, forests, mines, and waters, and the country at large will 
be astonished to see the progress made in Virginia and the South 
generally in manufacturing and mining, in improved agriculture, 
in cattle-raising, in education and arts. The Exposition will also 
be an attractive place to visit, in that it will contain many memo- 
rials of the late war and many curious objects connected with the 



Attractions and Industries. 



23 



history of this country, which will interest some who have no con- 
cern in the industrial display. 

From time to time there will be races for large purses, and there 
will be a great cattle show, and also a bench show, and many spe- 
cial features will be hereafter announced. 

The Exposition is under the management of Ashton Starke, Pre- 
sident ; A. R. Venable, Jr., Secretary; and Henry C. Jones, Di- 
rector-General, and they have prepared a great many different 
circulars giving every conceivable sort of information in regard to 
the exhibition, especially for the benefit of those persons residing 
in other States who are thinking of visiting Virginia, and will be 
glad to send them free to all applicants. 

TIME AND DISTANCE. 



Railroads strike out from the city in every direction, and the 
time-tables show the following facts : 



TO nrs. juues. 

Atlanta 21 549 

Augusta 19 473 

Baltimore 5 156 

Beaufort 24 530 

Boston 20 572 

Buffalo 23 57S 

Charleston 14 457 

Charlotte 10 282 

Chattanooga 21 494 

Chicago 35 930 

Cincinnati 23 636 

Cleveland.. 24 645 

Columbus, Ohio 25 566 

Columbia 15 3S8 

Danville 5 I4i 

Galveston 61 1,532 

Greensboro' 7 1S9 

Indianapolis 28 746 

Jacksonville.. 21 859 

Knoxville 19 382 

Louisville 24 654 

Lynchourg 6 147 



TO ffrs. Miles. 

Lexington, Va S 196 

Lexington, Ky 21 560 

Luray 7 I79 

Memphis 35 i.ooi 

Mobile 32 904 

Montgomery 27 724 

New York 10 344 

New Orleans 37 i,044 

Nashville 26 647 

Norfolk 4 104 

Natural Bridge 8 196 

Old Point 3 85 

Philadelphia S 254 

Pittsburg iS 490 

Raleigh 7 iS" 

Savannah 16 572 

St. Louis 36 914 

St. Augustine 24 900 

Washington 4 116 

Wilmington 7 245 

Weldon 3 84 



24 Virginia Generally. 



Virginia Generally. 

Virginia is a State of varied productions and rich in agricultural 
and mineral lands, and in waters yielding oysters and fish. 

The climate is universally conceded to be excellent: no long 
winters; no debilitating summers. "Blizzards" and "cyclones" 
are absolutely unknown. All portions of the State are finely 
watered, and the intending settler may find lands for sale at low 
prices in the mountains, in the valleys, in the Piedmont country, on 
the southside or in the tide-water section. 

Wheat, corn, oats, rye, tobacco, peanuts, the grasses, and (in the 
extreme southern section) cotton are produced. Table vegetables 
and fruits grow in great plenty. Coal and iron ore, and numerous 
other minerals are found in large quantities. Full information on 
all these subjects can be obtained by addressing " Col. Thomas 
Whitehead, State Commissioner of Agriculture, Richmond, Fa." 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 444 370 6 




CITY HALL BUILDING— BROAD STREET FRONT. 



